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130 million shop on 'Cyber Monday'

Pat Marshall set her alarm at 4:45 a.m. Monday to buy Land's End ski bibs as Christmas presents for her four grandchildren. She didn't even get out of bed, but instead shopped online from her iPad.

Yolanda Holden places a completed order onto a conveyor belt prior to packaging at the Amazon.com 1.2 million square foot fulfillment center Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, in Phoenix. Americans clicked away on their computers and smartphones for deals on Cyber Monday, which is expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history. Shoppers are expected to spend $1.5 billion on Cyber Monday, up 20 percent from last year, according to research firm comScore. That would not only make it the biggest online shopping day of the year, but the biggest since comScore started tracking shoppers' online buying habits in 2001. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) ORG XMIT: AZRF105

“Good thing I did, because they sold out in 15 minutes,” she said.

Malena Lott, a few hours later, jumped on Hollister's website to take advantage of a 40 percent off coupon to buy a hoodie for her 15-year-old son, while Kim Searls started “scouting” sites at lunch, with plans to buy online Monday night.

“I've been looking at clothes from stores that I know the merchandise and know how it fits,” Searls said, “including Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft, where everything is 40 percent and 50 percent off today!”

By early afternoon, Jenna Harlow had bought online at Target, Kohl's, Amazon, Gap and Sam's, all of which offered free or discounted shipping and 20 percent or more off total purchases, she said.

Harlow, whose buys included Legos for her 4-month-old son and Fisher Price Little People sets for her 2-year-old niece, estimates she'll do 70 percent of her Christmas shopping online.

“I'll do anything I can to miss the big holiday crowds at the malls,” Harlow said.

The area shoppers were among nearly 130 million Americans estimated to shop on “Cyber Monday” — or what retailers have coined the Monday following Thanksgiving.

According to a poll of 4,005 consumers last week conducted by BIGinsight for Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, 129.2 million Americans planned to shop online Monday, up from the 122.8 million last year and 106.9 million in 2010.

Eighty-eight percent of this year's shoppers planned to shop from their home computers, but 12.4 percent, or nearly 16 million, also planned to use their work computers, according to the poll. The number of shoppers planning to use their smartphones or other mobile device increased, too, to 20.4 million — skyrocketing from 3.6 million in 2009, and up 14.4 percent from last year alone.

Not all Oklahoma City e-shoppers had success, or even shopped, on Monday. Vicky Baggett, of Midwest City, said she tried to buy blue work shirts from Northern Tool Co. but, before she could place her order, the blue shirts she wanted were out of stock. Meanwhile, Laura Boyd skipped cyber shopping altogether because of cautions about hackers and identity thieves.

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by Paula Burkes

Reporter

A 1981 journalism graduate of Oklahoma State University, Paula Burkes has more than 30 years experience writing and editing award-winning material for newspapers and healthcare, educational and telecommunications institutions in Tulsa, Oklahoma...